FTL: New Eden
by Nekro3
Summary: FTL: New Eden is a fan-created project based off the popular indie game FTL: Faster Than Light. It follows Matt, Vince, Xin Xin and Johnson on their voyage to create a new society, free from corruption and violence: A New Eden.
1. Introduction

FTL: New Eden is a fan-created project based off the popular indie game FTL: Faster Than Light. I created it to basically put down on paper what my imagination thinks up when I play a game of FTL, and I hope that maybe people will enjoy it. FTL: New Eden is the story of Matt and his crew: Vince, Xin Xin and Johnson as they head into infinite space to create a new civilisation in the image of the Angeli Noctis, one jump at a time.

Please leave criticism, and if you enjoy it, please tell me so I can make more :)


	2. Sector 1

/sector1_beacon1/

Matt looked down at the ship. _His _ship, technically, but then again, the three crewmembers before him shared the same responsibility - and therefore fate - as he did. They had been difficult to find, after all, with the Rebels advancing upon the Federation fleet, and word of a flagship nearing its completion on the other side of the galaxy, more and more were looking to settle down and accept their new Rebel rulers. Matt, who had long ago abandoned the Federation and turned his back on the Rebellion, had only one mission left. Survive, and strive into the infinite space to eventually find a new home with his crew of three on a world devoid of corruption and lies, built on trust and justice. A New Eden. Therefore, he had sold all his belongings to scrap dealers throughout the system to buy The Skywing, a repurposed discontinued Federation cruiser, aged, yes, but perfectly capable in the right hands. The Slug dealer had been unwilling to let it go - even at an _incredibly_ harsh price - but Matt had been able to eventually take it off his hands and assemble his crew.

First of all was obviously Vincent (or Vince, as he preferred). They had been good friends since before either could remember. They may as well have been brothers, and Matt had needed a good man like Vince to come with him to his new world. Their friendship was deep, their brotherhood deeper. However, there was an issue yet to be resolved between them - Vince had been thrust into the Federation army by his father, and even though he had revoked his sworn allegiances in private, Matt had always been suspicious of Vince, and though diminished, that feeling still remained now.

The second member of his crew was Xin Xin. A woman of asian descent, she was a comrade of Matt in the Angeli Noctis where together they had torn apart the words of the Rebels and the Federation and promoted the way of the Angelis, a pacifistic religious sect which believed in the collective rather than the individual. Her parents, who had also been Angelis campaigners, had been killed by Rebel extremists about a year ago, and since then she had gone into a state of severe depression. Had Matt not hired her as a weapons specialist, she may have even thrown herself out of an airlock by now. Even so, they were good friends, and whilst Matt often denied it, he did feel some feelings for her, deep down in his soul.

Johnson, the final member, was an Engi droid who had been attacked by Mantis thugs on a station Matt once visited. Johnson owed Matt his life, and to pay back his debt and leave a life of abuse behind, he had joined on Matt's infinite voyage, where he would eventually become the colony's engineer and live a life far away from Mantis homeworlds.

Matt activated the ship's generators and the ship began to light up in a serene neon white.

"This is a shipwide broadcast, confirm station status." He spoke into the microphone with a voice not completely masquerading his excitement.

"Shields fully functioning." Vince's voice seemed to be doing a pretty bad job at hiding his excitement too.

"Weapons charging." Xin sounded calm and cold as per usual, but Matt could tell she was just as happy as he was.

"Engines at maximum power." Johnson said with a serious, but almost glad tone, as if he was happy to finally move on.

"All stations prepare for FTL."

And then he jumped.

/sector1_beacon2/

The first beacon they visited was a store. Whilst they had all gathered many materials between them, Matt had always been one to double check things. After all, they didn't want to get to their new eden only to run out of replicator supplies, did they? The store was very average, but Johnson spoke up outside one of the shipbuilders.

"That is a scrap recovery arm. It would be highly logical to invest in a scrap recovery arm now rather than later to maximise scrap recovery."

"He's right," Xin spoke up too "If we're going to get one of those arms, it's probably better to get one now rather that later." Vince nodded in approval.

"Fine then, I guess we do need the scrap..." Matt handed a credit chip to the Zoltan engineer and watched the hydraulic arm get welded to the ship. It was a pretty good welding job, and once Johnson was satisfied with the Zoltan's handiwork, they left the station.

/sector1_beacon3/

The next beacon was run by a strangely excitable Rockman. Highly unusual.

"Are you in need of repairs? Well look no further, weary traveler, for Papa Notch is here to help! We repair all of your hull related problems, from breaches to bumps and from scratches to splits! All at highly reasonable prices! WHAT A DEAL!"

Over the security system, Matt watched Vince slowly put his fingers in his ears. The Rock's voice was very, very high pitched. He politely declined and moved on.

/sector1_beacon4/

As soon as the ship dropped out of FTL, a refugee ship sent out a cry for help. They were being assaulted by a Zoltan bomber - if they didn't intervene, that ship had no chance. Matt might have not taken a side with the Rebels and the Federation, but he also had a strict moral code, and this was a direct violation.

"Xin? Prepare for first blood!"

Two yellow drones raced towards the Skywing.

"What the hell are they? I've never seen something like that before!" Vince shouted over the comms.

"Stun drones. Two of them." Xin shouted back, locking the Artemis onto the enemy ship.

Nasty little machines. Matt began to feel a bit less confident about this scenario. They had two shields and a missile launcher. It could take hours to destroy them. But in his monologue had left him distracted, and a shot from a stun drone hit him in the chest, throwing him onto the control panel, unconscious. Sparks began to fly, and almost instantly a fire had broken out.

"Matt!" Vince shouted, abandoning his post and running through the ship. Xin wanted to go and help too, but the weapons weren't finished charging yet. She needed to stay there.

When Vince got to the helm, Matt was still unconscious.

"Matt? Matt, I need you to talk to me! Tell me you're OK!" Vince shouted, before he noticed the flames surrounding them both. "Oh shit." He shouted, grabbing an extinguisher from the wall and aiming it around the room.

"Vince? Is he OK?" Xin shouted through the console, but Vince couldn't hear. Gradually, Matt began to stir and Vince picked him up and dragged him away from the fire. Xin had managed to get an Artemis missile into the enemy's drone systems, and the pounding of stun shots faded into silence. Vince had put the fire out and had then collapsed, breathing deeply onto the floor of the bridge. Gradually, he picked himself up and helped up Matt who was now almost awake.

"We need to get to the medbay. You've got burns and I don't know how severe they are." Matt nodded, but pointed at Vince's arms. When he had dragged Matt away from the fire, he had gotten more burns than he originally thought. Trying to protect him, he had forgotten about the pain in his arms and legs.

"Vince! What the hell's going on in there?"

"Don't worry Xin, we've just got a few burns, that's all. We're heading to the medbay, can you handle the ship for now?"

Xin nodded but her eyes didn't move from the screen.

"I should be able to treat your burns, Vincent and Matthew. I will meet you in the medical bay."

"Thanks Johnson."

Vince grabbed Matt around his shoulders and began to run.

Meanwhile, Xin was busy locking weapons onto the enemy vessel. She had gotten the drones offline, but their missile launcher was still online, and they had already caused substantial damage to the shields. If Vince had stayed in the shields room, he could be dead by now. She decided not to tell him, and instead focussed on disabling the ship's weapons. After a short while, the ship exploded into scrap, and Xin threw off her headset and ran down to the medbay.

She burst in to see both Matt and Vince lying in medical beds, with Johnson scanning their burns with a scanner.

"Are they alright? Was there a fire?"

"Do not worry, Xin Xin. Matthew and Vincent will recover completely within a few minutes. I will transfer medical control to the ship and repair the helm."

Johnson left silently, and Xin waited patiently for the anaesthetic to wear off. Sure enough, the burns were healed apart from a single scar that traced its way along Vince's arm.

"That's all I get for helping Matt?" He said jokingly, but Xin and Matt both knew it had hurt a lot

Johnson had completed repairs on the shields and bridge, and the refugees thanked the crew with scrap and a few spare drone parts they had as cargo, before jumping away. Matt decided it was probably time to do the same.

/sector1_beacon5/

Around a planet near the beacon, a ship was sending out a message. "We can do anything - for the right price."

"It's a mercenary." said Xin, bitterly. Her parents had died at the hands of a hired mercenary when they boarded a transport vehicle. According to witnesses, they had stepped in, put two laser shots into their heads, and then stepped out. No remorse.

"I know how you feel about them, Xin. But you have to learn to forgive people. Isn't that what Alice taught you?" Alice was Xin's teacher at Angelis, but it didn't seem to help. She turned off her camera and waited for the ship to jump.

"Hey, uh, Matt." It was Vince.

"I know Angelis taught you pacifism and stuff, but the thing is..." He seemed embarrassed to finish. "We need all the scrap we can get, and I'm sure Xin won't mind taking out a mercenary..."

"You're asking me to murder them."

"Not exactly..."

"Yes you are!"

"They _are_ murderers, Matt. Don't you think that means we're justified!"

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't think the great Commander Vincent of the United Federation was the judge of who gets to live or die!"

Vince didn't say anything, and Matt knew he had gone too far.

"Look, Vince, I..."

But Vince just showed Matt his scar and turned his camera off.

Matt sighed and headed down the ship to check on Johnson in engineering.

/sector1_beacon6/

After they had all slept, Matt decided to apologise to Vince and Xin. Vince took it well (this argument had come up a lot recently), but Xin, although she forgave Matt, still seemed detached. She acted like she did when her parents had first been killed. But it seemed to help a bit, and Matt hoped that one day he could convince her to forgive.

The next beacon was a store, and whilst there wasn't much on sale, they decided to hire some Engi to fix the hull damage from the previous fight. Better now than later, after all.

Johnson spoke to them in mechanical clicks, and managed to haggle the repairs down to 18 scrap. Xin seemed interested in listening in, unbeknownst to Matt she had been learning Engi for a few years and was keen to practice.

At least it took her mind off the mercenaries.

/sector1_beacon7/

As soon as they entered the beacon, they ducked down into hiding. There was a huge rebel space station, with a cruiser guarding it. Not good news - especially since the Skywing still had federation markings on it.

"Everyone," whispered Matt, "stay very, _very_, quiet."

He shut off everything apart from oxygen and literally held his breath in the darkness of the cockpit. Johnson shut himself down into a hibernation state. Xin and Vince looked out the windows to see if the cruiser was coming. Not even the doors remained powered. They all waited and waited for what seemed like days, unmoving and silent. Then, without a word, Matt hit the jump button and the ship shot out into the stars before the cruiser even noticed they were there.

/sector1_beacon8/

Near the beacon, there was a military storage station, guarded by a Rebel automated drone. At first, Matt prepared to move on - those drones were known to carry stronger weapons than rebel cruisers - but Xin appeared in the bridge just as he was about to jump.

"I hate to tell you this, Matt," she said, almost ashamed, somehow, "but we're down to our last ten missiles. The Artemis isn't very accurate... and, well... without that, we're limited to the burst laser, which only has three shots..."

"...Which means that if we run out of missiles, we can't destroy anything with three shields or above."

"Yeah."

"Good thinking Xin." Matt smiled at her, and for the first time in a few days she smiled back. She ran back to weapons and Matt began to advance towards the station.

The drone proved easy pickings after all, with only minor damage to systemless corridors. the station, however, didn't have any missiles at all, and only succeeded in giving them a few random drone parts. Matt made a mental note to thank Xin later.

/sector1_beacon9/

As the Skywing approached the beacon, sensors began to flare up like fireflies. A pirate was assaulting a civilian vessel, and it looked as though there was only one way the battle could turn.

"Battle stations!" Matt shouted over the comms. The pirate turned its attention to the Skywing and began to lock on weapons.

Amidst the alarms on the command console, Xin's voice spoke up. "They only have one shield and their weapons are slow charging. I might be able to destroy their offensive systems before they even hit us!"

Matt nodded. The ship shook as the lasers discharged into the pirate's hull, mangling it into a molten wreck. It was crippled without weapons, and the pirates onboard seemed to notice too as they began to charge their FTL drive.

"Don't let them escape!" Vince shouted.

"Diverting excess energy to engines." Johnson responded, and the Skywing began to catch up with the fleeing pirate.

"Xin! Are those lasers back online?"

"Affirmative. Firing... now!"

The pirate exploded into a ball of flames, extinguished in seconds by the dark vacuum of space. Matt wished all of their fights could end so quickly, but he knew they had been lucky.

The Skywing returned to the civilian vessel, only to notice a huge hull breach on the underside of the ship and only one remaining lifesign which was beginning to fade.

"We've got a lifesign on the ship! Johnson, come with me!" Matt shouted down the communicator as he docked the Skywing to the vessel and ran towards the starboard airlock. Johnson was already there, and as they both activated their respirators, the doors opened.

They had entered into the ship and saw the lifesign. A female Mantis, alone and unconscious, seemingly clutching onto the body of three dead Mantis larvae on the ground among many other dead corpses. Matt was silent for a few seconds, before the bleeps of the sensor reminded him she was dying. He reached down and began dragging her to the airlock before he bumped into something.

It was Johnson.

"Lifesign: Mantis." He said coldly. His past had left a grudge against the Mantis, but Matt had never guessed that he would go this far to exact his revenge.

"What? She's dying!"

"Lifesign: Mantis."

The Engi didn't move. He just stood there, blocking the airlock, with an expression so cold it could have frozen a sun. The more time he wasted, the less oxygen they had left, and the closer the Mantis was to death. Matt spoke up again.

"Johnson, I know what the Mantis on Station 9 did to you, and I can't imagine how you feel. But if you don't let me get this Mantis onboard then I swear to God I'm going to wait here until both of our respirators run out and we both die. Understand?"

Johnson did some calculations in his mind. Matt wasn't bluffing, and they would both run out of oxygen and asphyxiate at the same time. He only had one option. He turned and walked back onto the ship without a word, with Matt following behind, carrying the Mantis in his arms.

Minutes later, the crew of the Skywing gathered round the medical bed. After Vince had injected her with the awakening agent (Johnson had declined), she had begun to wake up. Matt walked up to her as her eyes began to open. She spoke quietly so only Matt could hear.

"Am I the only one?" She asked slowly in quiet gasps. Matt nodded. She was silent for a few seconds.

"That Engi. It's been hurt by my kind, hasn't it." Matt looked at her in surprise. "I've seen that look before. People think we're warriors and murderers, all of us, but we're not. Please tell him that." Matt nodded again. The Mantis got up and scuttled to the rest of the crew.

"My name is Rebekah. I am a neuroscientist for the Apollo Corporation. My home was destroyed by the Federation, and so I'd like to join your crew."

Vince looked at Matt. It had been difficult enough for him to convince them to allow Johnson onboard. It was meant to be their New Eden, not just a free for all where any alien could join. It was a difficult decision to make, and Johnson wasn't going to make it easier.

"Alright then." Matt said, to the surprise and horror of the rest of his crew. "We're going to need an extra pair of hands anyway, and a Mantis is always useful when we have boarders."

"But... But it was meant to be our New Eden!" Vince shouted loudly. Rebekah stared at Matt, confused.

"We're looking to create a new society without evil and suffering, without Rebels or the Federation." Matt looked at Vince. "And if they are willing to accept our values, anyone is welcome to join. We're going to need a lot of people to start a new society. It's only logical."

Vince nodded, but the frown didn't leave his face. Xin, who had remained silent until now, pushed past Vince towards Rebekah and hugged her. Rebekah, though surprised and confused, returned the hug.

"I'm sorry..." Xin whispered into Rebekah's ear "About your children." She got up and looked into Rebekah's beady eyes. "I know how it feels to lose family. You're welcome to stay on the Skywing as long as you need."

"T...Thank you..." Rebekah clicked, and Matt noticed a single black drop escape from the chasm of her eyes.

Johnson said nothing, and returned to engineering. Vince went back to shields, and Xin showed Rebekah around the ship. Matt decided she should work in security, so if any intruders boarded, they could be dealt with quickly. He lay back in the captain's chair, and began to feel... unsettled. Johnson had proved today how deep his need for revenge went, and he feared what would happen. It was the worry of him getting hurt by his own need for revenge. He would have to talk to him at some point. Rebekah's face appeared on the console.

"Security systems online." She clicked, and Matt prepared to engage the FTL drive.

/sector1_beacon10/

The Rebel cruiser posted around this beacon saw the Skywing immediately, and refused all hails. Matt really had to get rid of those old Federation markings at some point.

"Matt? They've got missiles, and I don't think we can hit their weapons before they fire."

"Got it."

Matt began to circle around the ship, trying to make it harder for them to lock on. The burst lasers we're almost ready, but a stray missile crashed into the shield bay. Matt heard air rushing past Vince's microphone.

"Vince! Is there a breach?"

"Yeah, but I wont be able to fix it before they fire another round."

"Rebekah! Help Vince seal the breach!"

"On it." She clicked, scuttling out through doors and into shields. Matt focussed his attention back onto the Rebel.

"Xin! Fire burst lasers at the weapons system!"

"...Done!"

The enemy's weapons were completely disabled, and the shields were almost back online. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. The ship was gone in a matter of minutes, and among the wreckage was a strange weapon.

"Xin? Any idea what a HCL is?"

Xin smiled excitedly. "You found one? Intact? That thing is really, _really_ good. I can get it up to four times base damage after firing, and it means we don't have to be reliant on missiles anymore. I'll install it once I've shut down the other weapons."

In the shields room, Vince and Rebekah had finished repairs. Vince looked at her. For a Mantis, she was kind and efficient, completely unlike the stereotype the Federation had forced onto him, of a cruel, sadistic warrior race without mercy. Vince called out to her as she opened the blast doors.

"Rebekah?" She turned around. "...Thanks."

"No problem." She sent a heartwarming smile towards him and shut the door behind her.

Matt sent out a shipwide broadcast.

"We've got enough scrap for a few repairs. Anyone got anything they want improving in particular?"

"Shields." Vince called out. "It'll only cost 90 scrap to upgrade and power a second layer of shields, and it'll mean some enemies can't even hurt us."

"Agreed. Anything else?"

"No, everything else seems fine."

"Good. Let's go to the next sector."

The New Eden was closer than ever.


	3. Sector 2

/sector2_beacon1/

Matt received a hail as soon as he reached the next sector.

"We provide labourers for cheap, and would be very interested in trading with you. Your business is appreciated."

Matt scanned the ship for lifesigns, sceptical about these "labourers", and sure enough he found lifesigns. Around 50 of them, piled together uncomfortably in cells on the ship. Slaves, with fading lifesigns. The image made him sick, but he was at a dilema. If he destroyed the ship, he would be killing innocent slaves but save countless others in the future. In the end, he realised it was no longer his decision to make.

"All crewmembers to the bridge." He instructed through the console.

After they were all gathered in front of the console, Matt began to speak.

"These people are slave traders. They have about 50 slaves on there, but some of them probably won't survive another day. Therefore, we have three options."

The crew nodded.

"One: We move on and forget this happened."

"Two: We free one slave and ask it to remain on the ship. This will cost us some scrap, but it will mean that we save at least one life today."

"Three: We fire on the slave ship and destroy the slave traders, but kill most likely all of the slaves on board."

"What? You can't call that an option!" Rebekah interrupted with a flurry of clicks and moving mouthparts.

"Logically it is the best solution." Johnson responded, completely calm and emotionless. "By destroying the slave traders, we save many future victims from becoming slaves, which will easily outnumber the 50 slaves on board."

"How can you think like that? They're dying! You can't just ignore that!" Rebekah's claws poked out a little in frustration and scuttled towards Johnson.

The Engi looked into the Mantis' eyes, not with fear, but with cold hatred.

"I would have thought a Mantis like you would care less for the lives of innocents."

Rebekah fully extended her claws and ran towards Johnson before stopping abruptly. She took a few deep breaths before speaking again.

"I..." Rebekah gasped, "Am not one... of _them_..."

She retracted her claws and turned to Matt.

"We should save at least one." She said before leaving through the blast doors.

Vince and Xin looked at each other in worry, and Xin nodded.

"Matt." She said with confidence, "We should leave this beacon. It's pulling us apart, and when that happens, your New Eden is gone."

Matt nodded. Xin turned and ran after Rebekah through the doors.

Vince broke the silence. "I agree with Xin. Arguing like this isn't going to help any of us. We should just go and move on. That means we jump to the next beacon, right?"

Option one had received two votes, options two and three had received one vote each.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. I need to go and check up on the shield chargers."

Vince left. Johnson turned to follow, but Matt put his hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Johnson. If you ever harass Rebekah, no, ANY Mantis who is a member of this crew, I will personally disassemble you and put you into a missile."

The Engi said nothing.

"Rebekah is a good person, Johnson. I understand you have trouble feeling that after what happened on 9, but you need to get over it. If you're only here for revenge, you don't deserve a place on New Eden. I suggest you think about that."

Johnson nodded slowly and walked out the blast door.

Matt sighed and fell back into the captain's chair. The FTL drive finished charging a few minutes later. Time to leave.

/sector2_beacon2/

Matt docked at a trade station, hopefully to have the crew spend some more time together and heal the wounds made at the last beacon. Johnson, though avoiding Rebekah, hadn't said anything to her since the meeting. Xin stayed with Rebekah, teaching her deep breathing techniques to calm herself and reduce the risk of her hurting someone with her primal response. Vince stayed with Matt, and both of them soon realised that this was the first time the two of them had spent time together since the beginning of their voyage. They had forgotten how much they enjoyed each other's company, and as they talked and laughed, Matt inwardly thanked Vince for choosing his best friend over the wishes of his family and joining him on the Skywing.

The station yielded nothing of use, and eventually the crew returned to the Skywing.

"Oh, Xin."

Matt called out to her, remembering something from a few days ago.

"Didn't you say we weren't using the Artemis anymore?"

"Oh yeah, I need to sell it! Thanks for reminding me!"

Xin laughed. Despite her serious manner, she had always been more forgetful than any of Matt's other friends. To strangers, she must have seemed like the ice queen, cold and unforgiving, but as a friend she was always caring, always looking to help others and comfort those who needed it. She was a mystery, and Matt liked to imagine that one day he would solve it too.

Johnson caught Matt's eye. He was standing in the middle of a crowd, thinking. Matt asked himself if he regretted bringing him along. To be honest to himself, he did have doubts about bringing him due to his vendetta against Mantis, but he had hoped his logic would have overcome it by now. It didn't matter that he had an IQ of over 300, he was acting like a child. But then again, Johnson was one hell of an engineer. He had doubled the efficiency of the engine coolant within a few hours of being onboard, and his repair and medical skills we're certainly an asset, both for New Eden and the journey there. Matt wondered whether his threats to Johnson were as real as he thought.

Though Matt had spoken to Rebekah many times since recruiting her, much of her past remained a mystery. She was a neuroscientist at the Apollo Corporation, or at least she had until the Rebels overran her homeworld, Klarapiska (New Beginning) and left her, her riktokka (loved one) and three larvae without a purpose. The transport vessel she had boarded was heading to Klararokka (New Hope), Klarapiska's twin planet. Raiders attacked their ship, demanding scrap which the crew didn't have. A missile caused a hull breach on the deck. Air started to escape, and as her vision started to fade, she saw her riktokka give her his last breath of air, before the space tore him from her grip. The next thing she remembered was the medical bay.

Even though she was a Mantis, Matt felt as though she was the most compassionate and emotional out of the crew, and it was this that had persuaded him to accept her onto the Skywing. She cared for everyone like a Zoltan monk, and the experience of her losing her family and home had shown just how forgiving she was. If anything, he envied her feelings of care and happiness.

Once Xin had sold the Artemis, the Skywing jumped ahead to the next beacon.

/sector2_beacon3/

As soon as the ship dropped out of FTL, the console flashed red.

/DISTRESS_SIGNAL_RECEIVED/

msg this is the transport vessel evangelion, were in an asteroid belt, sheilds failing, cant hold up much longer msg

Matt hailed them.

"This is the Skywing. Please confirm distress signal."

The response was static, but Matt could hear flames and cries for help in the background. He hit the comms for a shipwide broadcast.

"Everyone, prepare for complex maneuvers!"

He saw the crew nod and sit down into their seats. Belts tightened around them, holding them securely in place. Matt activated auxiliary thrusters and sped towards the asteroid field.

"Evangelion, we're going to attempt to increase our shield size and use it to shield you."

Still static. Fires were visible from the Skywing bridge. They had to act fast.

"Vince! Divert all power to shields and increase the repulsion field."

"Got it." Vince typed faster than Matt had ever seen him. He saw the shields get bigger, and eventually they encompassed Evangelion."

"Evangelion, we are ready to escort you out of the asteroid field, please follow within our shield boundaries."

This time there was no response, but the ship's auxiliary thrusters started up. They had got the message. Slowly, the ship began to crawl to safety.

"Matt." Vince looked concerned. "Tell the ship to hurry up. I can't overcharge the shields for much longer, it'll blow the entire system!"

"Understood." Matt hailed the Evangelion again. "Evangelion, we need you to move faster, we cannot sustain shields, repeat, we cannot sustain shields."

The ship continued at a sluggish pace. Either they hadn't got the message, or they were too damaged to do anything.

"Evangelion, please move faster, we cannot sustain shields."

"Matt, we've only got a few seconds left."

"Evangelion, please respond!"

The shields began to glow a bright blue. The bubble was about to burst.

"Evangelion ple-"

"Oh, fu-"

The shields imploded, causing the rooms to shake violently. Matt switched to Vince's camera feed. The console was on fire, and Vince had experienced a strong electric shock. He was lying back in his chair, limp, with blood draining out of his arm and chest.

"Shit, Vince!" Rebekah scuttled out of the door control room and into shields.

Matt switched his attention to the asteroid field. Shields were completely out, and he was relying on his piloting skills to escape. The Evangelion was still trying to get out, but it wasn't going to make it without shields. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an asteroid heading directly towards them on the sensor screen. Their sensors must have been offline.

"Evangelion, you have an incoming asteroid, please attempt evasion."

The small ship switched thrusters from rear to front, but it was too late. The asteroid hit the front of their ship, crushing the bridge like paper. It continued to drill its way through the centre of the ship, before it hit the reactor in the centre. The blast threw the Skywing off course and threw tonnes of scrap metal into the field. Matt watched all of it from the bridge window, and stood, speechless and motionless, until the shields came back online.

Vince had been hit by a power discharge directly from the reactor, and the burns he got weren't helping. Rebekah had carried him to the medbay and started treating him until Johnson arrived and took over without a word. Xin had open an airlock to extinguish the fire, before fixing the shields before more asteroids arrived. Matt had been sick, multiple times, before joining Xin, Rebekah and Johnson at the medbay.

"Vincent will not suffer long term damage from burns or electrocution. However, some glass from the console has lacerated his left arm and his lower torso. I may be unable to repair the damage, and if this is the case, the arm and torso will be removed and amputated."

The crew was silent as Johnson attempted to seal the wounds. Rebekah seemed most agitated. She looked like she had been when Matt found her on the transport vessel. Scared. Alone. Johnson broke the silence after a few hours and moved the medical curtain.

"The operation was partially successful. I was able to mend the torso, as it was my priority. However, I was unable to repair his arm. It has been amputated using spare parts from myself and the ship. Vincent will be conscious in a few minutes."

The crew looked closely at Vincent's new arm. Whilst the skin had been grafted on with surprising accuracy, the arm was now a hybrid of tissue and metal. From the shoulder down was a stiff, metal casing taken from an Engi spare arm. Nerves were connected to micro power conduits from the ship's 3D printer. Muscles were replaced by motors. Blood was used like oil. Vince was no longer fully human.

Vince woke up after a few minutes.

"Wh... Wha..."

"His cognitive and motor functions may be impaired for a few minutes. He may have also suffered short term memory loss." Johnson stated calmly.

"Memory... loss?"

"What's the last thing you remember, Vince?" Xin asked

"Uh... the station. Getting back from the station."

They looked at each other. Matt decided to tell him.

"We're at the next beacon. It's been about a day. We arrived here and got a distress signal from the Evangelion transport vessel. They were trapped in an asteroid field. I asked you to overcharge the shields to protect them... but..."

"It short circuited, right?"

"Yes. The repulsion field collapsed. The Evangelion was destroyed before it escaped."

Matt realised he had to say it out loud.

"It's my fault."

"What, the Evangelion?"

"It's my fucking fault." Matt collapsed and grabbed Vince's arm.

"The operation to repair your arm and torso lacerations was partially successful. I was forced to remove and amputate your arm using spare parts from myself and the ship."

"I'm so sorry..." Matt whispered between tears, as Vince's eyes grew wide in horror. He lifted the arm up and stared at it, noticing the tubes where veins used to be, and metal where the bones should have been.

"Oh my God..."

Vince stared at the arm without moving.

"I couldn't save... I couldn't save any of them..."

Vince looked down at Matt again. He stood up from the bed and crouched down to Matt's level.

"Matt." He said with a faint smile. He didn't reply.

"Do you remember when we were kids and we would play in the station vents? I when you first found them. You told me we could wait in there for someone to get in trouble and then jump out like that superhero from that stupid TV show we used to watch together."

Matt stopped whimpering.

"I think I cut myself on a loose piece of metal when we were crawling through them. I remember you crying loads, because you thought I'd bleed to death, even though I was fine. Remember that?"

Matt nodded.

"Today is the same. Its just a cut that I won't die from. Eventually, I'll get used to it, and we can laugh about how you thought you ruined the rest of my life. But don't blame yourself, Matt. It's just what was meant to be."

They embraced and stayed there until Johnson interrupted to say that he needed to conduct more tests on Vince's arm. Matt told everyone else to have the rest of the day off, before returning his quarters for the rest of the day.

Vince stayed in the medical bay until the next morning, when the Skywing moved on to the next beacon.

/sector2_beacon4/

The beacon was deserted, apart from a refueling station and a ship, far in the distance.

"Rebekah? Any way we can get a clearer image?"

"Boosting sensors and enhancing image now, sir."

"Thanks... and, don't call me sir."

"Of course. Sorry."

Being called sir reminded him of organisations like the Federation and Rebels, where if you were above someone, they meant nothing. That was the last thing Matt wanted the crew to become.

The console showed a rebel ship circling the station with weapons locked on.

"They're not firing yet, but I detect many life signs onboard. The station has hardly any defensive equipment. It could be destroyed easily."

"I see your point." Matt wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible, but unlike with the slave ship, there was a certainty that the lives onboard the station would be saved.

"Xin. Charge weapons."

"If you say so, Matt."

Matt smiled a little and moved towards the Rebel ship at high speed. The ship turned from the station after only a few seconds and began to lock on weapons.

With the Skywing's upgraded shields and the HCL, the ship was crippled in seconds.

"Xin. Prepare to finish them off."

Just then, the control panel flashed. The rebel ship was broadcasting an encrypted signal across multiple sectors.

Enemy ship broadcasting encrypted message: 0%...1%...2%...

"Rebekah! Any idea what that message is?"

"No, but it's a low level encryption, which means we can decode it and stop it from reaching other beacons if we stop the transmission. Otherwise it'll just be garbled junk. Give me a minute."

44%...45%...

"Xin, we need to get them down before they send that message."

"I'm trying, but the weapons just fired. They're still locking on."

Matt steered the Skywing closer in a weak attempt to make them lock faster. His eyes were stuck on the console

73%...74%...

Rebekah appeared on the console, and even though her skin was dark green Matt could tell she was pale.

"Matt... it's a bounty."

"What? They're trying to put a bounty on us?"

She read from the screen next to her.

"The Skywing is guilty of crimes against the United Rebellion, and should be destroyed at all costs. It, and its crew, are hereby charged with execution for the assault and destruction of an innocent rebel ship and its crew."

Matt started to feel sick. He couldn't have the whole Rebellion after him - he'd be killed in hours!

"Xin, please tell me those weapons are back."

"No, sorry. They're going to need another minute or too. There's no way we can stop the transmission."

There had to be a way... Matt wasn't ready to see his dream crumpled so soon.

"Everyone, prepare for heavy impact."

"Matt... Please don't tell me..." Vince started over the comms, but Matt ignored him.

"Rebekah. Locate the origin of the signal."

A blip appeared on the sensor screen. The front helm of the ship. Matt turned the ship to face it.

"Johnson, divert all power to auxiliary thrusters."

He began to throttle up.

91%...92%...

The Skywing began to race towards the Rebel ship. With engines down, it wasn't going anywhere, and as he got closer he could almost see the crew running to the other side of the ship in terror through cabin windows.

95%...96%...

They were travelling at about 50m/s. The bridge would hit the Rebel ship and crush the metal plating like a tin can. That would definitely stop the signal for good. Matt set the ship for autopilot and ran through the blast doors.

99%...

The doors closed. Matt sprinted diagonally to reach Rebekah, but the ship's collided earlier than he thought. He was thrown into a wall, and as smoke began to surround him, he lost consciousness.

He woke up an hour later in the medical bay, with the rest of the crew standing around him. Xin was the first to speak. Or at least, the first to act. Her forehead cracked into his skull, and Matt felt like he was about to lose consciousness again.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have killed all of us! Half the ship was on fire, we've not been able to open the bridge doors, there was a breach in-"

"Did we stop the transmission?" Matt said as he rubbed his head.

"...Yes. The message was garbled. Nobody will be able to recover it."

Matt gasped a sigh of relief. Xin sighed too, but in a far more frustrated tone.

"Johnson says you need to rest, so him, Vince and I are going to put on some exo-suits and repair the helm from the outside. Rebekah's meeting with the station owners. Apparently they wanted to thank us."

The crew left, and Matt fell into a deep sleep where he dreamt of reaching his New Eden. It was warm... almost desert like, but there was an ocean to the east. Someone called his name from far away, and the dream ended.

/sector2_beacon5/

Hundreds of red lights flashed on the newly recreated console as the Skywing approached a quarantine zone. A mining colony had fallen victim to a virus which had spread furiously through its inhabitants. The leaders had tried, unsuccessfully, to keep them under control, and now riots had started at the colony's capital.

Johnson checked the data and noticed similarities to a virus he had encountered before on a settlement long ago.

"Matthew. I believe that I can synthesise a cure for this virus by taking samples from the colonists. Please send a request to the colony leaders."

A few hours later, Johnson had made enough of the cure to immunise the entire colony. The leaders thanked him, but Matt was more interested in the settlement.

"So, how long were you at that Engi settlement? You never mentioned it to me."

Johnson was cautious to respond.

"I... was once enlisted into the Federation, for a period of three years as an engineer for an outer settlement."

"What? You never mentioned that to me! Why did you join them?"

"At first, I believed the Federation to be righteous. I believed that they wanted peace and freedom for everyone. However, on the settlement, I experienced their corruption first hand. On my third year of duty, my... partner was attacked by a Mantis drug addict."

"Wait wait wait you had a partner?" Somehow this news had taken Matt by surprise more than his allegiance to the Federation.

"Yes. We were married and were planning on creating children. She was murdered, but the Federation police did not investigate due to a large bribe from an anonymous culprit. I left the Federation a few weeks later and hoped to forget the events of the last three years onboard Station 9."

Matt was speechless. He could tell Johnson held no loyalty to the Federation, but still, he felt betrayed for not being told earlier. In the end he just nodded and returned to his private quarters.

/sector2_beacon6/

The Skywing dropped out of FTL directly in front of a Rebel scout. Both were so shocked that they did nothing for a few moments, but eventually the enemy ship began charging weapons. Xin did the same.

"Xin, what kind of a weapon is that?" Matt's eye had caught onto a launcher of some kind.

"Oh no... that's a flak weapon. We don't have enough shield layers to protect from all of its projectiles. You're going to have to dodge them."

"Ok then... everyone hang on!"

Matt started maneuvering the ship up and around the scout, until they were directly behind it.

"Xin! Fire everything!"

Three laser shots pierced the shields and the final, overcharged HCL shot destroyed the ship into scrap.

Disaster averted.

/sector2_beacon7/

The Skywing arrived just as a Zoltan freighter was obliterated in the wake of a massive Mantis fighter. Matt was scared still, until he realised the fighter had already locked weapons.

"Everyone! Prepare for multiple boarders!" He shouted as he began to maneuver the ship around.

"Got it!" From the corner of his eye, he saw Rebekah begin to salivate and extend her claws - the Mantis reaction to battle.

Matt was suddenly interrupted by banging outside the blast doors. They were already onboard. He could hear them slowly clawing through the doors. There were two of them, at least. If they got in, he was as good as dead.

There was a massive explosion from the ships rear - engineering.

"Johnson? Johnson!"

There was no response. Xin stood up and ran towards the back of the ship. All Matt knew was that the Mantis had a massive missile - and that they weren't escaping anytime soon.

His attention quickly returned to the Mantis. He could hear them, scratching at the door, until they suddenly stopped. He checked the cameras - they had teleported back, and in the centre of the room was Rebekah, lying down in exhaustion. Matt ran in to help her up.

"They... they were trying to escape... they asked me to stop... I was about to kill them, Matt... I was going to kill them..."

"Don't worry, they're gone now. Do you need me to take you to the medbay?"

"No... I'm fine, I just..."

She paused for a minute.

"I never thought... I would want to kill someone..."

"It's ok. They teleported back to the ship. They're not going to die." Matt noticed his hands, which had been holding Rebekah up, were now covered in blood.

"Oh God... you're bleeding!"

Rebekah had only just noticed too. The adrenaline rush had blocked out the pain. she tried to speak, but this time only blood came out.

"We need to get you healed, right now."

He picked her up and carried her to the medbay. As he entered, he saw Xin with Johnson, who had been burned all over.

"That weapon... It's... scary." She said as they lifted their patients onto the medical beds. "When I got to engineering, there was fire everywhere. I had to open the emergency airlock to vent it out. It destroyed the entire system. I don't know when it'll fire again, it could be-"

There was another, louder explosion, and according to the ship's computer, the shot had targeted the medbay, but missed and hit a corridor instead.

"They know where we are..." Xin realised, grabbing Matt.

"We need to fix the engines. We're not going to win against this ship, we need to run."

"Agreed."

They ran to engineering, and saw that the fires had gone out. They waited until it had recompressed before heading in and fixing the damage.

"Vince, I need you to go to the helm and start charging the FTL drive!" Matt shouted as he fixed the coolant system.

"Ok, one sec."

The partially repaired engines began to hum as the FTL drive began to charge again.

Another loud explosion, this time right next to engineering. The autopilot was trying its best to divert the missiles, but it couldn't cope much more.

"Matt! It's ready!"

"Jump! Find a store and jump!"

And just before another missile hit, the Skywing disappeared. The Mantis laughed at its cowardly prey, before moving on.

/sector2_beacon8/

Vince had found an unvisited store and jumped before a second thought. They returned to the medbay to see Johnson healing an unconscious Rebekah's wounds.

"I have repaired my burns. Rebekah will also be healthy in a few minutes."

The rest of the crew were shocked, but dispersed after a few seconds. There were multiple fires and breaches, and the hull had cost a lot to repair - they only had five points left before they jumped.

Later that day, on the bridge, Matt spoke to the crew, hoping to raise their spirits after coming so close to death.

"These things happen," he began, "for a reason. And that reason is so we can learn. We know we need to upgrade doors. We know we need more weapon shots. We know we need to improve engineering. And we know that because we got beaten up by that Mantis fighter. Do you see now that this was a good thing?"

Some of the crew nodded, but Rebekah stayed silent. Being a Mantis of morals, she had wanted to just intimidate the boarders into teleporting back, but through the bloodlust of adrenaline she had almost killed them. She wasn't sure if she could accept that yet.

After performing some upgrades, and buying another weapon from the station at Xin's request, the crew set off again into the third sector of their voyage.


	4. Sector 3

/sector3_beacon1/

"Matt..." Rebekah's voice echoed in the otherwise silent bridge.

"Go ahead."

"I'm getting some strange readings from that nearby star... I think it might be letting off some solar flares in our direction!"

"Ok, shields to maximum, start charging the FTL drive."

Matt suddenly felt someone grab him from behind. An intruder. Matt struggled to loosen his grip, but the boarder held on tightly, constricting Matt's throat. His vision already blurring, Matt managed to hit the red alert button on the console before managing to headbutt his assailant. They both collapsed, before another boarder stepped out of the shadows and grabbed Matt again from behind, holding his arms back. The first boarder stood up again, wiping a trickle of blood from a split lip. He nodded to his friend before trying to access the console. After a few seconds, he kicked the wall in frustration and grabbed Matt's head.

"Tell me the access code, or the rest of my crew kills everyone onboard!"

"It's twelve digits... One trillion possibilities... Good luck guessing..." He said breathlessly, but with a slight smirk.

The boarder grabbed Matt's head and slammed it hard into the console.

"Tell me the fucking access code now, or we all burn!"

Matt shouted in pain, a massive bruise forming along his forehead, but managed to murmur something through a swollen mouth.

"What? Say that again!"

"I said..." Matt replied with another smile, "You chose the wrong ship to board."

"What the fuck is that meant to-"

The intruders collapsed as two laser shots disintegrated their skulls and boiled the blood inside. Matt dusted himself down as Xin and Vince walked out from the airlock.

"If I didn't know better," he said, wiping the remains of the boarders from his boot, "I'd say you waited for them to slam my face down before killing them."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it." Vince replied sarcastically. "After all, it's your only redeeming feature."

They both laughed before Xin cleared her throat.

"Rebekah's taken care of the others, and Johnson's put out any fires that have started. But we need to go. Now."

"Yeah. I can feel it getting hotter by the minute. Is the drive charged yet?"

She checked her tablet. "Yes. Just." She ran back to her station with Vince as Matt prepared to jump away from the sun.

/sector3_beacon2/

A distress signal lit up the console as the Skywing dropped out of FTL. Matt followed it to a small asteroid field, and hoped that this encounter would be more successful than the Evangelion's.

A ship appeared in view, lodged deep in rock after some mining accident.

As Matt approached, he saw markings on the ship. Pirate markings.

"Guys?" He said over the comms, "Are you seeing this too?"

They all nodded.

"Well, what do we do?" asked Vince. "We can't just leave them there."

"The way I see it, there are only three things we can do: Leave them, dislodge them or kill them."

"We can't kill them, I mean, they haven't done anything wrong, have they?" Rebekah asked.

"By the looks of it, they were mining illegally without the correct tools." Vince answered. "We saw it a lot in..." His voice trailed off as he remembered who was listening.

"Still. How do we know they're bad? I mean, they could be supplying civilians."

"Yeah, on the black market in exchange for organs. I vote we kill the scum."

"Well I vote we try and free them, and then ask questions later."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"I agree with Rebekah." It was Johnson. Matt couldn't tell whether or not he was just pretending in order to stay onboard, but he looked sincere. Besides, it was against Engi programming to lie.

"It would be more logical for us to attempt to free them first. They could give us mined materials in exchange, and at any point if we feel they are morally incorrect, we can kill them."

"He has a point." Xin said, deep in thought. "If we blow it up, it'll be more difficult to recover scrap than if they give it to us."

"Then we try and free them, agreed?" Vince sighed and nodded.

After only a few burst laser shots, the rock exploded and the pirate was flung out of it's trap. As it struggled to dodge asteroids, Matt kept remembering the Evangelion and it's crew that he couldn't save. It was probably best for him not to think about it. Eventually, the pirate teleported over a few materials as thanks before jumping away. Matt powered down the weapons and prepared to do the same.

/sector3_beacon3/

Waiting at this sector was a huge surprise for the entire crew. A Crystal ship in all of it's glory, en route to another destination. It was a sight few were able to behold, and apparently the Crystals felt it should stay that way as they charged weapons.

Matt had scarcely begun maneuvering that he saw a huge missile heading towards him. It seemed to be getting bigger, before he realised that it was coming straight for him. He turned to run as the missile hit the front of the ship, knocking it spinning and sending Matt flying back into a wall. He collapsed, unconscious, as the fire began to lick at his clothes.

Rebekah ran to the bridge to find Matt, but the flames had already engulfed him. As the Mantis searched frantically, she began to choke on the dry smoke. When she found him, Matt was already close to death. She dragged him out slowly, wincing in pain as her burns began to hurt. She pulled him through the airlock, and into the corridor, where Vince had arrived to take over. As the pain became too much, her legs collapsed. Vince dropped Matt down carefully and knelt next to Rebekah.

"What happened? Did you get burnt?"

"I'm sorry... I never got to show you how I felt..."

"What?"

"I'm not going to make it, Vince. This is how it ends for me."

"No! Don't say that!" Vince's voice exploded into rage out of nowhere and Rebekah flinched slightly.

"Please... don't shout..."

"WHY?"

"Because... it's breaking my heart..."

Vince stopped speechless and held Rebekah closer.

"I... loved you... from the moment I saw you in the medbay."

Vince, shocked, remained in total silence.

"I know..." she laughed a little, but only blood came out. "It sounds... so stupid now. A human... and a Mantis... it could never end happily..." She smiled, and Vince realised that he felt the same.

"No, please, you have to come with me to the medbay. We can heal you!"

Rebekah's ears pricked.

"You have... to save... Matt... or I die... for nothing..."

Vince shook his head and tears began to flow like blood from an artery from his eyes.

"My aorta... it's ruptured... I only have a few seconds left... you have to run..."

She looked at his eyes, and wished that she could stay there forever, in his warm arms. The pain stopped, and she realised that even though she was about to die, she felt the happiest she had been since her riktokka had died. It was love.

"Goodbye... Vince..."

Rebekah went fully numb and collapsed into his arms. He held her there for a few seconds, though they felt like hours, before he lay her to rest on the floor and picked Matt back up.

"Xin. Rebekah's dead."

Xin gasped and held her hand over her mouth.

"I need you to get us out of here whilst I get Matt under control. He's losing a lot of blood."

"Got it." She ran out of the shields room and into the bridge.

"Johnson, we need to get out of here now."

"Understood. Diverting all excess power to engines."

Vince lay Matt onto a bed and grabbed a handful of bandages from a trolley.

"Hold on, Matt, I've got you."

He held out a medical scanner and checked for wounds. They were everywhere. There was no way he could stop the internal bleeding in so many bruises and burns. He felt the ship jump, and then saw Xin and Johnson run in to help.

"I can't... I can't stop it..."

Johnson took over and began to check over the body.

"...Vincent is correct. There is no way I can stop the internal bleeding before he dies."

"Oh my God..." Xin was lost for words, and tears had begun to run down her face like Vince's.

"Johnson?" It was Matt. The remaining crew gathered round him.

"Please... promise me you'll forgive the Mantis..."

The request surprised Johnson. "If that is what you wish."

"Rebekah?"

"Rebekah... is fixing the bridge. The fire is out." Xin lied. It was wrong to fill a person's last moment with grief."

"Oh... tell her I'm sorry I couldn't save her family on the transport ship. And Xin?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll never change." he smiled. Xin nodded.

"Vince?"

Vince still wasn't ready to speak.

"Promise me you'll lead this crew to New Eden."

"What?" Vince broke his silence abruptly.

"I want you to lead them to a world without corruption... or hatred..."

"He is destablising." Johnson interrupted.

"Lead them... as captain..."

"No... the Skywing is yours... you're the captain... I can't let you die like this..."

"It was inevitable... Everyone dies eventually..."

Vince could no longer speak through his wall of tears.

"I'm sure... you'll do an excellent job... Captain..."

Matt fell back, limp and lifeless. He was dead. Vince couldn't move, his eyes were transfixed on Matt's eyes, hoping they would come back to life like when they would as kids. But not this time. Xin placed her hands on his shoulders and began to move him away.

"NO! HE'S STILL ALIVE! WE CAN BRING HIM BACK!"

"He's dead, Vince. He's gone."

"NO! TAKE ME BACK! LET ME GO! I'VE LOST TOO MUCH TODAY! I WON'T LOSE HIM TOO!"

Xin crouched down and looked Vince in the eyes.

"I know you were close to Matt and I know how Rebekah felt about you. But you're captain now, and as captain you hold responsibility for Johnson and me. You need to let go."

Vince stopped for a few seconds, and then nodded.

"You're right. Matt wanted us to reach New Eden, so that's what we're going to do."

Slowly, he got up and walked to the bed.

"We need to give them both a funeral. It's what they would have wanted."

A few hours later, Matt and Rebekah had been put inside two empty waste disposal pods and moved to the back of the ship. Before they let them out into the darkness of space, Vince said a few words.

"Rebekah was a valued colleague. She always did what was right, and valued all life equally to her own. She will be missed by all, but never forgotten."

"Matt was a respected captain, who knew his crew well and treated them as equals. His actions have saved all of us at one point or another. In death, we hope he finds solace."

Xin and Johnson stayed silent throughout, unwilling to disturb their sleeping bodies.

"Johnson. Please open the airlock."

With a hiss, the airlock opened. Vince watched his lover and his friend drift off into the eternity of space.

"Ok. Return to stations."

The crew returned to their stations and prepared to move on.

/sector3_beacon4/

The Skywing dropped out of FTL and into an asteroid field. The shields began to buckle, and Vince realised piloting was more difficult than he thought. As if to make matters worse, a Rock vessel began to lock on weapons. Vince sighed - his first day as captain was proving to be harder than he expected.

However, the Rock ship was powerless. With only one shield layer, and only two shots per charge, it was gone in an instant. Vince mined its remains for scrap before moving on.

/sector3_beacon5/

Near to the beacon was a planet, with huge oceans and clouds. Though Vince and Xin had never actually seen Earth, it looked almost identical to the pictures they had seen in textbooks.

"There could be life down there." Xin said, begging for an excuse to go down and see the planet closer.

"We can't just go barging in like that, I mean-"

"What if this is it, though?"

Vince looked at her, confused.

"If there is life, it's highly primitive. It'll likely be ignored by the Rebels and Federation. We could start a colony down there, assuming it's habitable."

Vince considered her request. It made sense to stop as soon as possible, after all, they had just lost two crewmembers. Vince didn't want to lose anyone else.

"Fine. I'll land in the place most likely to be habitable. We can do some checks before we decide."

"Thanks Vince. It's just..." her voice trailed.

"I just don't want to lose you. Matt died because the Crystals had lifeform detectors, and that if they killed him then we wouldn't be able to escape. I don't want you to die too."

"I know. Let's just go."

The Skywing landed on a rocky cliff overlooking a green ocean. It was warm, definitely habitable, and the air carried with it the scent of salt from the sea.

"It's... so beautiful..." Xin remarked with watery eyes, having never been on a planet like this before.

Suddenly there was a cry from a cave nearby. A lifeform vaguely resembling a human crawled out and ran towards Johnson. More of them climbed out of various hiding places and crowded round him, trying to touch him.

"It appears," he shouted over the noise of the shouting aliens, "that they have mistaken me for a deity."

Xin and Vince looked at each other in confusion.

"They want me to stay here and guide them into a new age of civilisation."

"What?" Vince shouted. "We need you Johnson, we can't let you stay here with these things!"

Johnson was torn. He wanted to lead them, guide them, but he knew it was his place aboard the Skywing.

"Of course." He made a few gestures at the aliens, before they ran back to their hiding places, shouting wildly."

"What did you tell them?"

"How to make fire." Johnson replied calmly. Vince wondered whether Johnson had just changed history forever.

/sector3_beacon6/

The bridge viewscreen was completely filled with a Mantis hive ship. Vince felt himself go numb, as did the rest of the crew. They had been hoping to find a store to repair the damage from the Crystal ship - they only had about 4 hits left before the ship disintegrated.

"Johnson. Get us out of here. Now."

"Yes, Vincent."

This was it. This was the end. There was no way they would make it out in time, and even when they did, the Mantis would have teleported over and would be pulling the Skywing apart from the inside.

"Xin, Johnson. When I give the command, run for the escape pods. I've plotted a course for the habitable planet at the last beacon. The stuff you need to set up a colony is all onboard already."

"Wait, what about-"

"That's an order, Xin. I'll see you again. I promise."

"I'm not leaving you."

Vince hit a few keys, and the airlock sealed itself. Xin wouldn't have time to break it open before the Skywing exploded.

"Vince? What did you just do?"

"I just saved your life."

He listened for Xin's retort, but she was gone. Two Mantis had teleported into the weapons bay, and she had run before they attacked her.

Two lasers penetrated shields and hit the deck, echoing vibrations through the hull.

"Johnson, Xin. Go."

"But there is room for a third person in the escape pod. Why are you not joining us?"

"Because I'm going to buy you enough time to escape with a little trick I learnt from Matt. Now find Xin and start running."

Johnson paused for a moment.

"Thank you, Vince." He said, before he ran out of view of the camera.

Took him long enough to realise his name was Vince.

Xin was running through a corridor when Johnson ran into her.

"We have to get Vince! He's going to die!"

"That would be illogical. There is not enough time."

"I don't care, we have to help him!"

"I am sorry, Xin Xin. Please forgive me."

Johnson pulled out a syringe from his pocket which he had picked up from the medbay on the way there and stabbed it into Xin's arm. She gasped for a few seconds, before falling limp. Johnson picked her up and continued running towards the escape pods.

Vince looked at the console again, and asked himself if he was ready to do this.

/INITIATE_SELF_DESTRUCT: Y/N?/

Yes, he thought. He had to do this. For Matt. For New Eden.

/SELF_DESTRUCT_IN: 60...59.../

"Johnson, are you in the escape pods yet?"

There was no response. The comms were offline. Vince prayed they were safe and then began to accelerate towards the Mantis hive ship. In the corner of his eye, he saw the airlock begin to buckle as Mantis broke it down from the outside.

46...45...

Johnson strapped Xin into the escape pod as she began to regain consciousness. He tried to contact Vince, but there was no response. No way to know whether they were too late. With a silent final farewell to the Skywing, the Engi pulled down the release hatch, and the spherical escape pod ejected violently from the hull of the ship.

34...33...

Xin woke up and reached over to Johnson as soon as she realised where she was.

"You son of a bitch! We could have saved him! We could have got away!"

"I am sorry, but that would not have been possible." He gestured out of the window. Xin turned to face it and say the Skywing dodging lasers as it travelled full speed into the core of the hive ship. The Mantis hadn't even noticed the escape pod in their desperation to stop the oncoming ship.

"No... The ship is too fragile... He'll never make it..."

"I am sorry."

16...15...

Mantis had broken through the airlock and swarmed Vince, knocking him off the captain's chair and biting chunks out of his skin. However, Vince just laughed as they attacked.

"You're too late." He laughed.

The Mantis leader's eyes widened as he looked at the console. He shouted into a communicator.

"Emergency teleport, no-"

The Skywing collided into the ship's weapons systems, lodging itself deep before the FTL drive overloaded and split the hive ship into two. The resulting explosion blinded most Mantis onboard, and those close to the blast's epicentre were sucked out into the vacuum of space. The debris scraped through decks like paper, obliterating the insectoids into smudges of green and red.

The Skywing was gone forever.

Xin watched the crippled remains of the Mantis ship jump to safety before pirates could take advantage of its weakened state.

"Vince..."

"There is a small chance that he is still alive." Johnson said, cautiously.

"What? But, how?"

"The Mantis likely attempted an emergency teleport when they realised the ship was about to self destruct. If Vince was in proximity of any of the Mantis, he would have been teleported too."

"Which means... he might be still alive..."

"It is highly unlikely. There were only a few lifesigns left onboard."

Johnson paused.

"However, Vince has survived worse before. I am sure he will be resourceful enough to survive. When he does, I am sure he will locate our colony."

"We need to search the wrec-"

"Impossible. Vince locked in a set of instructions to activate as soon as the pod detached. We have around ten seconds before we automatically jump to the previous beacon and land at our previous landing site."

Xin said nothing, and left her hand on the window until the escape pod's engines prepared to jump.

"I'll see you again. I promise."

Vince's final words to her echoed like ripples in a lake as the escape pod jumped towards New Eden.

/author's_note/

I'd like to thank anyone who read this narrative blog, as I feel as though what started as a simple task to help my creative writing abilities has become more than that - it's become a universe, where not even I know where the story is going next.

Originally, I planned to have the story last much longer, and hoped to expand on Vince's prosthetic arm, Johnson's experience in the Federation, Xin coming to terms with the death of her parents, and of course, Rebekah and Vince's relationship. Though I mentioned that Matt and Xin could have been a pairing, I never planned on expanding it. However, these plans came to an abrupt end after the death of Rebekah and Matt in Sector 3. I obviously didn't plan for it to happen, but unfortunately that modded missile launcher which caused 65 (yes, 65) points of crew damage per shot had other ideas. I thought it fitting that Rebekah should die saving someone else (after all, her character was meant to be the most caring and empathetic of the crew), but I had hoped that Matt would die a little later so that I could tie up the loose ends of his story before handing the gauntlet onto Vince.

However, thinking about it now, that's the reason I most like FTL. It can be easily compared to real life. People don't die at set intervals, when there story is complete. they can die in an instant, and their story is never heard. I suppose that's why Vince never got to know that Rebekah loved him until the very end.

The ending of FTL: New Eden wasn't meant to be as much sequel bait as it might seem. I had intended for the Skywing to be destroyed, and for three of the crew to escape, but that wasn't meant to be. Therefore, I decided that Johnson and Xin should escape, whilst Vince, the captain, went down with the ship. For those who are wondering what happens next, Johnson and Xin successfully create the New Eden colony on the habitable planet in co-operation with the humanoids. Using IVF, samples from Xin, Matt and Vince and a mechanical surrogate, they successfully created a colony free from corruption. Vince's story is left purposely vague, and whether or not he survived the crash is up to the reader to decide. I've written my version of events, but I think it's best if I leave it for you to decide.

As for a sequel, if there is demand, then I probably will do one. It will most likely take place in a timeline I created a long time ago called the eternal winter, where after the Rebel's take over and become corrupt, people begin to die due to food shortages across the galaxy, causing people to kill over leftovers. I think I could write something set during that time period. If there is little demand, I won't be doing a sequel. However, this has been a joy to write, and I hope that it has been a joy to read too.

The End.


	5. FTL: Turing's Winter (A Short Story)

Ten years have passed since the collapse of the Federation and the creation of the Rebel government. For the first year or so, life was easy. The Rebel leaders stayed true to their promises of freedom and helped the people who had been long abandoned by the Federation. But then, it all fell apart. The leaders began taking more and more money for themselves, and slowly those without enough scrap starved as they watched from private stations. This caused what many called the Eternal Winter, where farming colonies slowly died out, and food and water became so scarce that families turned on each other over scraps. Now, the Eternal Winter has reached its height. Corpses lie unattended or desecrated on station floors, and survivors live knowing that the next day could be the last of their life.

Turing was an Engi, as the Mantis onboard the Juno V habitation station had pointed out multiple times. An Engi, a weakling with flesh easily torn by Mantis talons. He was patient and calm, but his peaceful lifestyle did not mean that he would lie down and let himself be mistreated, and when an airlock mysteriously opened and the Mantis who had long tormented him had been sucked into the abyss of space, Turing had laid back and admired his work, executed without flaw and without a shadow of suspicion on his perfect record.

His creators died during the Eternal Winter, among so many others of his friends and family. Juno V was deserted, and the survivors had been torn into different factions that would blame each other for the famine and kill blood relatives for the next meal. The Rebels had lied to them, and Turing had decided to make their leaders pay in blood.

He assembled a team of four people, all of them close people he knew he could trust, and set off to the Rebel flagship - the centre of all political debate after the fall of the Federation. The plan, written by Turing of course, would kill all of the members of the Rebel government and end the suffering that had plagued people for so many years.

First on the team was Martin. Also and Engi, he had helped Turing deal with the infestation (as he had called it) of Mantis on Juno V. A master of hacking, and off the record, one of the best friends Turing had.

Next was a human female named Kanta. She had Indian origins, and her ancestors were one of the first humans to enter Juno V, which had only made them bigger targets in the Eternal Winter. Turing had developed close ties with her after she had fixed him after an incident with a gang of Mantis. They were near inseparable.

Finally, there was Bowman. Turing had saved Bowman's life once when a pirate vessel attempted an attack on Juno V, where a certain malfunction in the oxygen system had left them trapped in the main control room with Bowman. The pirates, who were holding Bowman hostage, fell unconscious as they clawed at the door to escape, and after determining they were asleep, decided to spare Bowman's life and drag him out of the control room before extracting information, and killing, the pirates who hadn't died of asphyxiation. Bowman had since been in hiding with his family, but had come out when Turing found him and explained the plan.

Martin had supplied his private vessel, the Scorpion, to complete the assassination. Onboard, he had hacked into the Rebel flagship, and was ready to begin.

"Let us begin." Turing said, and the team moved into action.

Bowman had engineered a teleportation brooch from some spare parts from the Juno V. Unlike a normal teleporter, it allowed you to essentially swap places with an unsuspecting victim, but only had enough energy for one swap. It's range was also much further than that of a normal teleporter, and its signal was unblockable and undetectable. Perfect for the operation.

"Bowman. Did you synthesise the vaccine?"

"Yes. It took a while, but I managed to make a counter for the virus. Kanta shouldn't feel any negative effects when the bomb goes off."

"Good. Prepare to switch."

Kanta nodded and stood still. After a few seconds, she disappeared with a flash of light, replaced by a woman that looked identical. Martin grabbed her immediately and applied a short term sedative.

"How long before she wakes up?"

"Only a few minutes. Bowman, you should take her down to the crew quarters."

"I agree. Is Kanta alright?"

"Yeah." replied Bowman, "She's in one of the guest quarters. The door was unlocked, we just need the master password for the conference room."

Bowman picked up her limp body and left the bridge. There was silence for a few minutes as Turing studied the blueprints and Martin started to hack the sensors on the flagship with intense concentration, before Bowman came back with drops of blood on his clothes.

"The code is 4-7-4-3-8-9-0-4-6-4. Got it?"

Kanta nodded in the live feed from one of the cameras from the guest quarters.

"Ok, now get moving. We only have five minutes until the conference starts and we need you to enter and leave before everyone arrives. Then you need to go to the teleporters."

She nodded again and walked calmly out of the door.

The conference door opened, they had the right code. Kanta pulled out a bomb from her handbag and put it under the table.

"That thing is nasty. It'll infect your body with a virus that takes over the red blood cells and turns them into black mush." Bowman commented. "We're lucky I could get a vaccine for it."

Turing nodded, but his eyes stayed close to the screen. Kanta had planted it, and was now moving towards the teleporter rooms. He started up the engines and activated the cloak as he moved to the co-ordinates they had both memorised.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. He fell off the chair and turned to face his attacker. Bowman. His focus moved behind him and he saw Martin, dead in a pool of oil and hydraulic fluid, lying limp in a chair.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it painful... I was aiming for your neck, but..." His hands were shaking violently.

"They... they have my family... I told them everything..." He started moving towards the console slowly, kicking Turing away from the chair, further across the floor.

"I need to go to the co-ordinates they sent me... so that they can teleport over my family..."

He had sat down in the chair unaware of the oil. Turing's vision was starting to glitch. He had seconds to act. With a rush of energy he had never felt before, he stood up and wrenched Bowman out of the chair and onto the floor and grabbed the knife out of his hands.

"Don't kill me... please... only I know the deactivation password..."

"For what? The bomb on the flagship?" Turing shouted, holding the knife tightly.

"No... I put one onboard the ship... just in case..." He opened his hand and showed a detonator. It was activated. The numbers counted down from 60. 59. Turing hesitated for a moment and Bowman took control again, turning the knife away from him and towards Turing's chest.

"Don't worry about Kanta. She won't suffer for long, the neurotoxin I injected her with will activate any moment now."

The pain was draining Turing's energy, and the knife was slowly moving towards him."

"I'm sorry. But I had to do this, for my family. For-"

There was a gunshot, and Bowman went limp. The knife slid into his chest, but the blood already covering Turing's vision said he was already dead. The woman who Kanta had swapped with had walked in, holding a pistol.

"Sorry. Couldn't have him telling, could I? I mean, the Rebels will never be overthrown anyway, but we like to keep a clean records about assassination attempts."

She walked over to a screen.

"Oh dear. Looks like your associate fell over. Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." She smiled a little, but stopped when she saw the detonator lying across from Bowman's body.

"Wait. What's that?" She looked closer. "Its a bomb. He's got a fucking bomb." She looked around for Turing, but he had already crawled out of the bridge during her monologue.

Inside the knife wound, the woman saw a faint trace of red that looked different to the blood. A bomb, hidden inside the ribcage.

"OH SHI-" She shouted as the bomb exploded, shredding her with implanted shrapnel and causing fires all around. The force and debris had bent and twisted the doors into strange shapes, and air was beginning to escape from a wide crack in the glass window.

This is how I die, thought Turing. There was no way he could fix this. He heard the cloak dissolve, and saw the flagship light up like a christmas tree. It would only be a matter of time before the missiles destroyed the ship once and for all.

I have failed, he thought next. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed. I have failed.

The error message copied itself hundreds of times across the screen, documenting the Engi's last thoughts. Slowly, the background faded to black, and all that he could see was the error message, before that too disappeared into the darkness.


End file.
